Upping
the daily intake of folate has been widely
promoted in recent years to reduce women's risk of having a baby with
spina bifida, but it also seems to have another benefit. Women consuming
800 micrograms per day or more of folate are significantly less likely to
develop high blood pressure than women consuming lesser amounts, according
to a report presented at the American Heart Association's annual
conference on high blood pressure research in Chicago in October, 2004 and
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. John
P. Forman of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital reported the data from
the Nurses' Health Study I, which included 62,260 women between 43 and 70
years old, and the Nurses' Health Study II, comprising 93,043 women
between 26 and 46.

None of
the women had high blood pressure when they were enrolled. They completed
detailed questionnaires about their diet, food preparation and health
habits, including folate intake, every 2 years for an average of 8 years.
The women also self-reported their blood pressures. The investigators
divided the women into five categories according to folic acid intake, the
average being approximately 250 micrograms daily.

Younger
women -- those in the Nurses' Health Study II -- who consumed 800
micrograms or more per day had a 29 percent lower risk of high blood
pressure than those who consumed less than 200 micrograms daily. Older
women in the highest category had a 13 percent lower risk of high blood
pressure than those in the lowest category.

"It is
very hard to get (800 micrograms folate daily) from diet alone," Dr.
Forman noted. "Essentially all the women in the highest category took
supplements."

Drinkers of green tea and oolong tea are less
likely to develop high blood pressure than nondrinkers, a Taiwanese study
said. The risk of hypertension, which can lead to heart disease and
stroke, declined the more green or oolong tea was consumed regularly, the
study by researchers from National Cheng Kung University in Tainan,
Taiwan, said.

Some varieties of tea contain 4,000 chemical compounds, including
flavonoids that help protect against heart attacks, strokes and kidney
failure, study author Dr. Yi-Ching Yang wrote in the report published in
the Archives of Internal Medicine.

None of the 1,500 participants suffered from hypertension at the start of
the study, and those who drank between 120 and 599 milliliters (4 to 20
fluid ounces) of tea per day for at least a year prior had a 46 percent
lower risk of developing high blood pressure than nondrinkers.
Drinking 600 milliliters of tea or more a day lowered the risk of
hypertension by 65 percent, the study showed. The
researchers concluded consumption of moderate-strength green or oolong tea
at 120 ml/day or more for one year significantly reduces the risk of
developing hypertension.

About 40 percent of the study subjects were regular tea drinkers, and they
were more likely to be younger men who smoked more, drank more alcohol and
ate fewer vegetables.

The hormone
melatonin is shaping up as a new way to deal with high blood pressure.
Dutch researchers have found that hypertension (high blood pressure) was
reduced in men who took a small dose (2.5 mg) of melatonin at bedtime.

Melatonin is best
known as a sleep aid and jet lag remedy, because of its effect on
circadian rhythms, our internal “time clock” that regulates bodily
functions. Although scientists don’t know exactly why, high blood pressure
seems to be linked to irregularities in circadian rhythm. Since research
into the melatonin-high blood pressure issue is only beginning, it’s
premature for anyone with a serious blood pressure problem to replace
medication with melatonin. But melatonin, which is also a highly regarded
antioxidant, just might do the trick for
those with mildly elevated blood pressure.

Intake of
calcium
and minerals is more important than sodium restriction in reducing blood
pressure, according to a recent analysis of data from a major study known
as the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES).

The findings were reported at the High Blood Pressure Research Council 57th Annual
Conference. They were the result of data collected from 20,050 Americans ages
20 to 74 from 1980 to 2000 gathered as part of the NHANES study. In
addition to blood pressure measurements, the data derived from NHANES
included 24-hour dietary recall (subjects' recollection of food and
supplements consumed). The amount of sodium, calcium and total mineral (calcium,
magnesium and potassium) intake also was included in the NHANES data.

Researchers
determined that salt intake only adversely affected
blood pressure when a person was deficient in calcium. When
calcium intake was adequate, salt had no effect on blood pressure. As
calcium intake increased, blood pressure decreased. The researchers
concluded that salt sensitive hypertension is more likely to indicate a
poor diet than a predisposition to hypertension.

The March/April 2003
issue of The Journal of Clinical Hypertension published findings obtained
from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES
III) that increased calcium consumption is associated with a reduction in
the age-related increase in systolic blood pressure and pulse. Systolic
blood pressure rises with age in most individuals living in industrialized
societies, while diastolic pressure tends to decrease after the sixth
decade of life.

NHANES III enrolled
39,695 participants from which the researchers selected 17,030 individuals
age 20 and older for the current study. Blood pressure and other
measurements were obtained for all participants. Dietary information was
obtained from a 24 hour recall questionnaire which enabled the researchers
to calculate calcium intake as well as other nutrients that could affect
blood pressure, such as sodium, potassium and magnesium.

Systolic blood
pressure was an average of 5.7 mm HG higher and diastolic blood pressure
3.4 mm HG for every ten years of age, however diastolic blood pressure
declines at a rate of 2 mm HG for every ten years of age after the age of
50. High calcium intake, defined as greater than 1200 milligrams per day,
was found to be inversely associated with the increase of systolic blood
pressure and pulse pressure that occurs with age. Calcium intake was also
associated with a reduced increase in diastolic blood pressure up to the
age of 50.

The authors predict
that "If the calcium intake of the general population were to
increase to above 1200 milligrams daily, the incidence of isolated
systolic hypertension in the elderly might be decreased."

In the November 2002
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from Royal
Perth Hospital, in Perth, Western Australia, demonstrated that a daily
regimen of Coenzyme Q10 lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure and
improved glycemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes who were
dyslipidemic (defined as an elevation in serum triglycerides or a high
total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio), and who had blood pressure in
the high-normal range.

Participants
included 61 men and 19 women aged 31 to 75, who were randomized to receive
100 milligrams coenzyme Q10 twice per day, 200
milligrams of the lipid-lowering drug fenofibrate, both substances or a
placebo, for twelve weeks. Blood pressure was measured and blood samples
collected at the beginning and conclusion of the study. The subjects'
blood was measured for cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, glucose,
coenzyme Q10 levels and glycated hemoglobin, a measure of long-term
glycemic control. In addition, plasma F2-isoprostane levels were
determined in order to assess oxidative stress.

While fenofibrate
did not affect blood pressure or glycemic control, coenzyme Q10 was found
to significantly decrease systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as
reduce glycated hemoglobin indicating improved glycemic control, while not
changing fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. Although
coenzyme Q10 has reduced LDL oxidation in vitro, the lack of reduction of
F2-isoprostane in the group receiving the nutrient led the researchers to
suggest that the improvements noted in this study were not due to a
reduction in oxidative stress. However, the authors note that
F2-isoprostanes are only one marker of oxidative stress, and that if the
effects of coenzyme Q10 are specific at the cellular level, a reduction in
oxidative stress could occur without changing F2-isoprostane
concentrations.

In a study presented
during the 2002 annual American Physiological Society meeting, researchers
from the University of Alabama in Birmingham reported that an extract of
grape seed given to spontaneously hypertensive
female rats whose ovaries had been removed caused a reduction in blood
pressure. This blood pressure reduction was comparable to that of plant
estrogens or estradiol, one of the hormones provided with hormone
replacement therapy.

Blood pressure often rises after menopause in women
presumably due to the decline in estrogens, the principle hormones made by
the ovaries. Postmenopausal women have frequently used hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) to control hypertension and other unwanted menopausal
effects, but the use of HRT therapy has recently been found to be
associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and
reproductive system cancers.

Previous research by
the investigators uncovered a similar antihypertensive benefit from
phytoestrogens derived from soy. In the current study, the researchers
used three-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats and surgically removed
their ovaries to mimic menopause. The rats were provided with
phytoestrogen-free diets containing 1 percent or 8 percent sodium
chloride. Half of the rats received the addition of grape seed extract to
their food. Predictably, the high (8 percent) salt diets greatly elevated
blood pressure, however, the rats on this group who received grape seed
extract experienced a much lower elevation. Rats on the 1 percent salt
diet did not appear to be affected by grape seed extract. Like the
estrogenic compounds, the extract did not produce any change in heart
rate, showing a specific effect on blood pressure.

The findings suggest
that a different mechanism than estrogen receptor activation may be the
cause of the benefits of estrogen therapy in postmenopausal hypertension.
The researchers believe that the polyphenols from grape seed extract may
be useful as an antihypertensive for women who are postmenopausal.

These statements have not
been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Please consult a qualified medical practitioner for medical advice.